Week One: the Minimalist Wardrobe

I am relieved to learn that I am not the only one who feels overwhelmed by their personal closet!

With that said, I have decided to document downsizing my wardrobe. I’m not going to promise that I will be able to guide you through your journey BUT, hopefully inspire you to get started!

I don’t really want to post a picture of my closet. However, it’s probably necessary.

This is how I started out Week One…

I know, I know, there are some obvious flaws! My hangers do not match! Half are the velvet covered – no-slip hangers. BUT, I still have to use some kid size hangers because it won’t cause those horrific shoulder marks from a too-wide hanger. Eventually after I clean out I will be using 95% black velvet ones.

Amidst all the clutter, I have it somewhat organized in the following way:

Dresses- that I rarely wear

Pool coverups

Pullovers

Cardigans- my one true love

Long sleeve tops

Tank tops

Coats- no, I do not have room to remove and store off-season clothing

Skirts/shorts/pants – very small section

Tee shirts… and other favorites that I actually wear

Pretty much all I actually wear!

Other categories not hanging:

Small bins of workout clothes

Shelf of denim

Drawer of pajamas- I want to get rid of ALL of them and start over!

Lingerie chest (holds underwear/socks/bathing suits/etc) this one is good to go, I keep it very streamlined.

Week One Recap

STEP 1

Initial review of hanging clothing to determine what I immediately know I don’t need.

This is how I determined what to pull in my quick closet evaluation…

What I knew absolutely does not fit

If I know I don’t feel good wearing it

Bad purchasing decisions that I will never wear

STEP 2

List on Poshmark

I know it doesn’t sound like I got a lot done, but I am purposely taking my time. Plus, I actually got the items listed! I removed approximately 20 items. Here are some examples listed in my Poshmark closet:

I have a stack of pants and denim that I have yet to list but I will get around to it eventually.

There is no “after” picture of my closet because it still looks the same. Oh well!

Now for Week Two, my plan is to pull everything out of my closet by category and REALLY go through it.

I will update you next week!

How do you categorize your closet?

Would love to hear some different ideas and why they work for you!

XOXO

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At the beginning of the year I took out 100 items of my closet and donated or listed them! Now, I wear the same 5 dresses with 2 different pairs of leggings every week. I have a few tops, minimal hiking clothing, 2 dresses for special occasions, and a pair of jeans. Minimizing my wardrobe was one of my better life decisions. I only wear what I love, I do not get overwhelmed when I look at my closet, and the unexpected bonus- I am forced to do laundry more often which means I never have to do 135 loads in one day again ;). Keep purging! You can do it! It is so freeing 🙂

I’ve been really cutting down on my closet as well. I want to be able to just grab ANYTHING from my closet and know that I LOVE IT. I systematically through my closet twice a year (when I change over for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter) , I’ve been doing this since I’ve had a closet (and yet I still have a lot of clothes, guilty). I also will donate or sell anything when I put it on amd know right away something is wrong. To help aid my seasonal purge, for the last year or so I’ve been doing the “backward hanger method”, whenever I actually wear something and would wear it again I hang it back in the closet (usually a bunch on laundry day) with the hanger backwards (so hook facing me). Then when I do my change overs, I can clearly see which ones got the love that season and which ones didn’t. Then I ask myself WHY I didn’t wear the ones left (no special event, just didn’t get cold enough, job change, etc) and keep or donate/sell accordingly. This method has helped me the past few years, maybe you can take something away from it. 😚

Hi Elle, I just love your blog and how much thought you put into each one! I hear you on the art of trying to pare down on all the clothing in our closets lol! The phrase well documented, “we wear only 20% of our clothing 80% of the time” certainly rings true. I usually try (and it’s a stretch these days!) to organize by color & garment type, i. e. all black tops hung together, all black pants hung together and so on..doesn’t matter whether it’s casual stuff or dressy so I can see it all. Then I go and edit by pulling stuff I haven’t worn in over 5 months. I try on, decide whether it’s still worth hanging on to. If not, it immediately goes into the “sell on Posh” table. If it’s not in near great/excellent Condition, it goes into the big donation bag. Like you, the hangers are all different types but I know I’ve made progress when there’s a whole stack of hangers on the floor. Fortunately, I rarely have any sentimental attachments to any of my clothing so parting with them makes it much easier because I know they’ll be replaced over time with a new purchase, lol.. then the cycle begins again….and we crank up the music 🎶

Shame on me, I very regularly go through my 4 kids closets because they are all young and their sizes change rapidly…plus, dirt.
I sneak into the husband’s when I can, but my closet looks like a MAJOR disaster. Maybe 2x a yeat I go through and fold everything nicely and within a week or two it’s a mess. I know I have a small selection that I wear faithfully, but I hang onto many things with the hopes that it will fit “soon.”
This post has inspired me, my husband made some awesome built ins in our walk in closet and I see is random sleeves dangling and balls of clothes shoved in- which goes against everything I stand for! Lol I’m so type A…I need to get on this asap. I’m going to try your determination method tomorrow ✌💕
Awesome post as always!